Rivals
by Unicess
Summary: Erza would like to enjoy her afternoon. And shut those two dummies up. She can do both. She's Erza after all.


**I wrote this originally as drabble. And it turned into a oneshot. Oh well. Anyway, this is just an innocent oneshot about the bond between Erza, Gray and Natsu. That's all. So don't get any ideas! I have my OTP already...**

* * *

She was getting mad.

And _everyone _knew that blowing the resident S-class Titania's fuse was a _bad_ idea. But they tended to forget about 99% of the time.

"You got something to say flame-brain?"

"Oh yeah, but I don't think you're gonna like it ice queen!"

"Try me!"

"Bring it on!"

Erza thought she felt a blood vessel in her brain pop. She'd beaten those two senseless various times, but perhaps it wasn't enough. Their literal head-bashing and bickering got on her bad side, but she had a few techniques for shutting their traps. The red-head released a deep breath, taking in another one. Porlyusica said deep breaths and soothing thoughts helped her relax. The old woman also recommended desserts. She and the healer had many things in common- except for the fact one of them had venomous hatred for humans. Erza liked people-

A table flew over her head, slamming into a corner of the room and making a resounding crash. She sighed, sipping her water.

Erza stopped. She sensed someone looking at her. She glanced up. It was Mira. And she was staring at Erza, her bright blue eyes expectant. Erza glanced to her left. And to her right. There were two women on either side of her. One of them was Levy, who had the same look on her face as Mirajane, and on her other side was Juvia.

Juvia's expression looked a bit different. Her eyes were sparkling, and it was a face of admiration, and it wasn't directed towards her. It was to that half-naked idiot whose face she wanted smash.

"Er… Erza. You seem awfully calm about this." Mirajane made note, her voice rising and falling.

Erza nodded and sighed, taking another forkful of cake and putting it into her mouth. She smiled and groaned as the flavor of the best food she had ever tasted spread in her mouth.

The tang of slightly bitter strawberries… The softness of the simplistic cake… The crunch of the crumble upon the top half…

Erza zoned out another background battle cry and dug in. She needed to relax more often. Perhaps a spa vacation was suitable.

The ex-quipper picked up a napkin and dabbed the corners of her mouth. Ah. There was nothing like-

Erza heard a violent crash as three tables hit the wall at the same time. Erza sipped her glass of water and stared up at the paling model in front of her.  
"Why Mira, you look like you saw a ghost. Is something the matter?" Erza asked, trying to stay calm.

Mira glanced at the shiny spot under the towel she held and continued to rub the clean counter absentmindedly. Erza raised a brow before gasping suddenly. The hair on her neck raised as a hand clasped her shoulder and the scent of alcohol entered her nose briskly.

In seconds, thick brown hair was in her face.  
"Well duh, there's a hole in the wall!" Cana drawled, her eyes glazed over. "That's why Mira looks like a ghost!" Cana burped.

Erza felt her blood boil. A hole?! Why, they had just patched one up last week! Master would be furious when he came back from the council meeting! And… she couldn't let him down!  
Had those two moron's really blown up the guild hall again!? Erza sat up, shoving a drunken Cana off her lap and faced the two boys who were currently scuffling around one of the remaining tables. Hmm. It seemed they were playing a childish form of tackle. _Tag_ was it?

Her eyes were drawn to the enormous hole in the wall. It was three times the size of the one they had fixed! Oh, those two were going to get it-

Erza cleared her throat, trying to keep her cool.

There was no reason for her to get upset and join the mindless brawl! She was trying to relax for goodness sakes. Her cake was heavenly, her seat was warm, and her drink was chilling! It was perfect! But how could she stop those two from fighting without actually beating them up?

Erza had a sudden idea. Yes… That could work…

She stared at the two boys, who were suddenly hugging each other madly and giving her strange looks. She moved, her armor rattling. Their eyes were huge. Aw. They were afraid! Well, they _should_ be!

Erza ran forward, tackling the two into a one arm bear-hug, before wrapping an arm around each of their necks.  
"Oh! Just look at you two! I remember the three of us- so young and vibrant! In our fruitful childhood!" Erza gushed. She frowned, tightening her grip around their throats.

"You two remember, _don't you_?" Erza growled.

"Oh yes! Of course Erza! We'd never forget…?"

"_Well, _I remember when you two were around the age of ten. So sweet-"

_"_…"

Erza sighed, hugging them to her chest.

"But it made me so upset- how you two would fight all the time!"

The knight thought she heard them whimper. She took another deep breath of air.  
"You know, it made me feel absolutely _terrible_, the way I would beat you up, _time_, after _time_-"

She stopped.  
"Do either one of you remember the time we went to go exterminate three Vulcans terrorizing a… mountain village?" The woman questioned.

The two shook their heads. Erza groaned in mock frustration.  
"That's too bad! Because I remember the whole thing!" She cried, ignoring the boys' moans.

"You don't have to tell us the _whole_ thing- Ouch!"

"It started out one clear morning. We had heard of the job. Master made the fateful decision to send all three of us, together. We made it there fine, because we knew there would be no snow, thanks to Cana, who read the weather cards for that day, and told us the weather going up the mountain would be splendid! So, we made our way there, but you two would bicker all the time, and it gave me a terrible migraine. Eventually, we made it there, but I had to beat you two many times. You two were exhausted, but you assisted me a tad when I happened to kick Vulcan butt. The reward was twenty thousand jewels! But I couldn't take their money; they were a poor mountain village. So we didn't accept the reward. However, the mountain village threw us an enormous party, and fed us the tastiest of foods. As we made our way down the mountain, the fight took a toll on me. I was absolutely exhausted. And to make matters worse, we had forgotten to check the weather for the next day! I felt like such a fool, I had endangered all of us!

So, we made our way down the steep mountain. We all slipped all the time, so the trip was dangerous, and slow. It was freezing! But we had to make do, for if we stopped, we could have frozen to death! But, you two were bickering, non-stop, like children! Oh wait, you were children… Anyway, as we made our way down the steepest part of the mountain, you two weren't paying attention like you were supposed to, arguing instead. But as we slid down an icy face, Natsu wasn't paying attention, I believe he saw a snow bunny- He slipped!

Hey- Don't laugh Gray!" Erza snapped at the snickering ice-mage, clenching her grip on their necks.

"I tried to reach out and grab his hand- but Gray was there faster! He tried to hold Natsu's weight up, but, his weak noodle arms gave way- "

"Don't laugh either Natsu!" Erza snarled, stepping on Natsu's foot and silencing him.

"And before I could get there on time, you two had fallen down! I screamed for both of you, but the wind drowned me out. I couldn't see a thing!"

The guild was silent, listening to Erza's story intently. Juvia clasped her hands together, forgetting her initial plan to attack, and thought about how sweet Gray looked as a child instead.

Cana propped herself up on an elbow, frowning.  
"That never hap-"

Erza began again, bellowing, cutting the tipsy girl off.  
"Oh I wept and cried for an hour straight! I felt like a _monster_. But, I had to dry my tears and pull myself together! So, I made my way down the mountain, as quickly as I could! It was painful, I was crying, and grabbing snow. But I trekked down that treacherous mountain as fast as my little legs would take me. So I followed in the direction you two had fallen, calling your names- When I finally found tracks! _Your_ tracks! I followed the hand prints, foot-prints, body-prints- all the way down until I found a flat surface of mountain, a… a cliff! There was a small hole in the ground, snow covered. It looked like a fox den. I peered inside and my heart came alive again!

It was you two! Together, in one piece! I looked closely, and the sight that befell me warmed me- Why it was the two of you! Snuggling and clinging to one another like newborn bunnies! And then, I realized, how much you two-"

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa-" Natsu backtracked, pulling his neck out of Erza's loosened grip.

Gray in turn slipped away also. He backed up, putting his hands up in front of him as to shield him.  
"I don't remember any of that!" He shouted suspiciously.

"Me neither!" Natsu cried in defense of his dignity.

Erza sighed, pressing her hands to her heart.  
"But alas, your tiny brains had bumped on the way down, and frozen along with it! Why, Master had unfreeze you for days to revive you! But-" Erza sniffled.

"I could never forgive myself. So Master and I kept it a secret-Until now!" Erza cried, clutching her heart melodramatically.

Natsu and Gray glanced at each other in shock. Hmm. They were looking at each other differently. They quickly glanced away and coughed.

"Whatever." Gray mumbled.

"Some dumb kid thing-"Natsu trailed off, crossing his arms.

Erza sobbed.  
"P-Promise not to tell Master I told you! He would be furious! I can never forgive myself!" She wailed, her voice becoming more and more of a high screech.

"Okay! Fine!" They yelled back, cutting off her high-pitched cry.

Erza sat up, back straight.  
"Good. You know I adore you two-"

The boys proceeded to gag.

"So try not to fight… please?" Erza whimpered, looking at both of them, back and forth in desperation.

"Ugh… fine." Gray replied gruffly.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night-"Natsu growled.

"Alright." Erza sighed. "Just… Just make sure to…to..."Erza inhaled deeply, her lip trembling.

"CLEAN THIS MESS UP!" Erza yelled, pointing to the hole in the wall and broken tables all over the guild hall. The two mages cowered. Erza cleared her throat, pounding a fist to the center of her chest.

And with that, the two scurried away, grabbing cleaning supplies and sweeping the up the damaged property.

Erza walked over to her seat at the bar and sat down. She stared up at Mira, who's eyebrows were raised in surprise.  
"A cream soda please Mirajane."

"Absolutely." The woman sang back, grabbing a glass.

Levy whistled, folding her arms.  
"Wow, you got them to shut up real quick didn't you?"

Erza shrugged, smiling a bit.  
"Not a big deal."

Juvia sobbed, hands covering her face.  
"Erza-san! That was beautiful! Juvia will never see Gray-sama the same way again!" She squealed.

Erza sighed, tossing her red hair over her shoulder playfully.  
"No problem at all." She replied coolly.

Mira popped back in, a creamy soda in hand. She placed the glass down on the counter and rested her head in her hands, her eyes sparkling with mischief.  
"Erza was that story true?" Mira asked in curiosity.

Titania snorted.  
"The entire thing was baloney. I just wanted those two to quiet down and clean up this horrendous mess."

Cana sat up, grabbing the counter for support as she pulled herself off of the ground.  
"I knew it. You would never let those two dumbasses fall. You're too smooth for that." Cana said with a wink.

Erza nodded.  
"Why thank you Cana. And I would never leave the guild without a week of your weather forecasts, at least." She brought her lips down to take a sip of her soda.

Cana laughed.

"Plus-"Erza started again. She smiled softly. "You don't need a childhood tale to show how those two truly feel about one another."

Erza watched as Natsu and Gray made no eye contact, yet presumed to shoot flames and ice at one another, cackling madly. She chuckled to herself. Rivals, they called themselves? Not even close. Rivals were merely worthy opponents. But...they were more than that. They were the two idiotic brothers that she was stuck with and had to care of for the rest of her life. And she wouldn't trade them for anything.

Erza turned around, facing her astounded female guild mates.

Erza took a sip of her _delicious _cream soda and turned to look at the door, as a she sensed a person walking in.  
"Ah, welcome back Lucy. I presume your trip went well?" Erza cheerily welcomed the celestial mage back.

Lucy sighed in exhaustion, collapsing against the counter.  
"Yeah, it was a _great _experience. The spirits and I really got some hard training in- Oh my god, Erza, there is a gigantic hole in the wall!" Lucy screeched, pointing her index finger at the damage.

Erza shook her head.  
"Nothing to worry about. The boys have gotten around to fixing it." Erza announced happily.

Lucy stared at the other women around her, who all in turn shrugged and smiled. Lucy swiveled her head back to Erza, in shock, before sighing nervously.  
"O-kay, other than _that_-"Lucy made another glance towards the significantly large hole. She blinked at Erza in expectance.

"What did I miss?"

Erza grinned, causing Lucy to raise a brow. The ex-quip mage glanced at the two boys fixing up the wall and cleaning up rubble. She brought the glass and straw to her lips and smiled against the tube.

"Oh, nothing much."

* * *

**Aw, I had so much fun writing this one! I've never written from Erza's perspective, so this was a game-changer. Sorry for my absence... School sucks, but I'm on break, thank god. And I'm making another something special, so I'm pretty excited about that. Hope you have had/are having/are going to have a wonderful Thanksgiving! If not that, then I guess a good week. Thank you for reading!**


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